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2009-01-21
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VI. Recommendations
As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international human rights treaties, Vietnam is obligated to protect basic rights and freedoms of all within its territory, including members of ethnic minority groups.
[264] This is all the more important to Vietnam's international standing now that it is serving a two-year seat on the United Nations Security Council. In addition to ending its persecution of Khmer Krom, it is important that the Vietnamese government find ways to address the mutual mistrust between the Khmer Krom and the government.
The Cambodian government has also failed to meet its obligations to protect the rights of Khmer Krom from Vietnam. The government has actively cooperated with Vietnamese authorities in violating the religious and political rights of the Khmer Krom. The Cambodian government needs to clearly establish in its Law on Nationality whether it affords the Khmer Krom the status and protection of Cambodian citizens.
[265] It must not send individuals fleeing persecution in Vietnam back to Vietnam and should allow such persons, if not citizens of Cambodia, to seek refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention, to which Cambodia is a party.
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When France colonizes the Khmer land and her citizens, Kampuchea Krom, Kampuchea Krom has 6 large provinces. The French administration and continuous Vietnamese kingdom under Emperor Bao Dai, and the succeeding Vietnamese regimes and government divide those 6 provinces into 21 provinces and municipalities until the present day.
The Vietnamese regimes and governments rename provincial, municipal Khmer names into their own tongue including mountains, rivers, lakes, and islands.
To distinguish the Khmers from the Vietnamese populations and for administrative control, the Vietnamese ruling regimes and governments impose surname 'last name' upon the Khmer population. For example, Son [pronounce as Sern], Thach, Kien [pronounce as Kieng], Kim, Danh [pronounce as Yanh, Lam, Truong [pronounce as Troeung], Tran [pronounce as Troeng], Huynh [pronounce as Vinh], ..., etc.
Please refer to history and map pages for detailed informations. |
Human Rights Watch makes the following recommendations:
To the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Political and religious prisoners
Fulfill its commitments as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), article 14, to end arbitrary arrests and detention of people for peaceful expression of their religious or political views.
Immediately and unconditionally release Khmer Krom imprisoned or placed under house arrest or pagoda arrest for the peaceful expression of their political or religious beliefs.
Allow international human rights organizations, United Nations officials, diplomats, legal counsel, and family members to have regular access to Khmer Krom prisoners.
Freedom of expression, association, and assembly
Implement article 21 of the ICCPR, which recognizes the right of peaceful assembly, and article 22 of the ICCPR, which provides for the right to freedom of association with others, by allowing peaceful gatherings and public protests by Khmer Krom individuals and groups.
Fulfill its obligations under article 19 of the ICCPR, which provides for the right to freedom of expression, by lifting restrictions on Khmer-language publications in Vietnam and the banning and confiscation of Khmer Krom human rights advocacy materials, including videotapes and printed bulletins. Cease the harassment or arrest of people for disseminating such publications or videos.
Cease all harassment, intimidation, interrogation, and detention of individuals in contact with international organizations, including groups that specifically advocate for the rights of Khmer Krom people in Vietnam.
Freedom of religion
Fulfill existing government commitments affirming the right to freedom of religion, including article 18 of the ICCPR and Vietnam's 2004 Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions, by allowing Khmer Buddhists to freely conduct peaceful religious activities.
Recognize as legitimate Khmer Buddhist pagodas that do not choose to join or affiliate with the officially authorized Vietnam Buddhist Sangha.
Authorize Khmer Theravada Buddhists to register with the government and operate independently of the official Buddhist organization, the Vietnamese Buddhist Church, if they choose to do so.
Land rights
Improve implementation of Vietnam's 1993 Land Law by streamlining the process of land allocation and issuing of land use certificates for Khmer Krom families; such families should be able to apply for and obtain certificates that can establish long-term land use rights without discrimination.
End illegal or discriminatory land seizures from Khmer Krom farmers and provide prompt access to an impartial legal system. Provide sufficient compensation, including awards of arable land where appropriate and available.
Discrimination
Implement provisions in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which Vietnam is a state party, as well as relevant provisions in Vietnam's Constitution affirming the rights of ethnic minorities.
End all forms of discrimination against Khmer Krom in Vietnam, including discrimination in education and employment.
Develop channels for dialogue and institute participatory decision-making processes involving Khmer Krom leaders and local communities.
Defending and monitoring Human Rights
Honor its international human rights commitments by cooperating with special procedures of the Commission on Human Rights and extending invitations to visit the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam to UN special rapporteurs for freedom of religion or belief, freedom of opinion and expression, and human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people.
Allow international human rights organizations to freely conduct field research in the Mekong Delta, monitor the human rights situation, and conduct human rights training programs.
Invite experienced Cambodian human rights organizations to run human rights education programs for Khmer Krom communities in Vietnam.
To the Cambodian government
Clearly establish in its Law on Nationality whether it affords Khmer Krom the status and protection of Cambodian citizens.
Provide national identity cards and other appropriate identity documents such as household registry documents ("family books") to Khmer Krom who are recognized by Cambodian law as Cambodian citizens.
Ensure that Khmer Krom in Cambodia have equal opportunities in education, employment, and religion, and are entitled to vote and own property.
Implement provisions in the Cambodian Constitution providing Cambodian citizens abroad full protection by the Cambodian state, with Cambodian government officials asking for consular access to detained citizens and raising concerns directly with Vietnamese diplomats and other Vietnamese government representatives when the rights of Khmer Krom in Vietnam are alleged to have been violated.
Abide by the 1951 Refugee Convention, to which Cambodia is a state party, by not returning individuals to countries where their lives or liberty would be threatened. Provide Khmer Krom who have fled from Vietnam and who are not granted Cambodian citizenship the right to seek asylum. Do not deport to Vietnam Khmer Krom with a well founded fear of persecution in that country.
Call on the Vietnamese government to allow Khmer Krom monk Tim Sakhorn, a Cambodian citizen who was released from one year's imprisonment in Vietnam on spurious charges in May 2008, to freely return to his home in Cambodia, should he choose to do so.
Conduct a thorough investigation into the murder of Khmer Krom monk Eang Sok Thoeun on February 27, 2007, and bring the perpetrators to justice.
To UNHCR
Conduct refugee status determinations for Khmer Krom asylum seekers in Cambodia who the Cambodian government has not formally recognized as Cambodian citizens and provided official documentation to that effect.
Insist that Cambodia--as a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention--take responsibility for protecting those individuals recognized as refugees by UNHCR or the Cambodian government, in particular the provisions on non-refoulement (the obligation of states not to return any refugee to a country where their life or freedom may be threatened). Exercise UNHCR's mandate to recognize and protect such refugees in the absence of protection by the Cambodian government.
Exercise UNHCR's mandate regarding stateless persons by assisting the Cambodian government in resolving nationality issues for stateless Khmer Krom, intervening with the Cambodian authorities on behalf of Khmer Krom seeking assistance to obtain national identification cards establishing their citizenship, and protecting stateless Khmer Krom when the Cambodian government fails to do so.
To Japan, the European Union, United States, and other key donor states to Vietnam and Cambodia
Press the Vietnamese government to release those imprisoned for peaceful expression of their views.
Regularly visit Khmer Krom communities in Vietnam, including land rights activists and defrocked and imprisoned monks.
Use high-level diplomatic contacts with the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments to press for improvement in their respect for fundamental human rights and religious freedom for Khmer Krom communities. Make public and private statements about the situation of Khmer Krom.
Designate funds for human rights training, rights-related rule of law programs, and civil society capacity-building programs for Khmer Krom communities in Vietnam and Cambodia.
Previous
On the Margins
Map of Mekong Delta Region Provinces, Vietnam
I. Summary
II. Background
III. Crackdown on Protests in the Mekong Delta
IV. Other Rights Problems Faced by Ethnic Khmer ...
V. Cambodia Cracks Down on Khmer Krom Activists
VI. Recommendations
Acknowledgments
Appendix A: Indictment of the Five Monks[266]
Appendix B: Handwritten Appeals from Khmer Krom ...
Appendix C: Vietnamese State Press Coverage, Tim ...
Appendix D: Letter from Cambodian Prime Minister ...
Appendix E: Human Rights Watch Letter to the ...
Appendix F: Vietnamese Embassy's Response to ...
Next
[264] Vietnam is party to five of the seven major international human rights instruments, all of which obligate it to respect the human rights of the Khmer Krom: the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights (ICCPR), International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR guarantee freedoms of expression and opinion, religion and belief, as well as freedom to peacefully advocate for religious freedom and other rights. The ICCPR and CERD call for governments to treat all ethnic minority groups in an equal and non-discriminatory manner. Article 2 of the ICCPR states that members of ethnic minority groups shall not be denied the right to enjoy their own culture, profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language. Article 30 of the CRC extends this right to ethnic minority and indigenous children. Article 5 of CERD calls for provisions of equal rights to all groups, regardless of race, color or national or ethnic origin, including the right to equal treatment before the law; freedom of movement; freedom of opinion and expression; economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to education freedom of thought, conscience and religion; and political rights.
[265] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), G.A. res. 2200A (XXI), 21 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 16) at 52, U.N. Doc. A/6316 (1966), 999 U.N.T.S. 171, entered into force Mar. 23, 1976, articles 12 and 13. Cambodia ratified the ICCPR in 1992. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia, September 21, 1993, article 33.
Source:
The Human Rights Watch
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